I thank you for the privilege of singing on your stage
Of visiting your country and the welcome that you gave
I don't wish to abuse it but one thing I'd like to say
Joe Doherty is still locked up in a New York jail today
There's many in for murder, remanded on appeal
Behind barbed wire and concrete, iron bars and steel
Here is
a man who's never once been charged with any crime
Does anybody understand why Joe's still doing time
With respect to Mr Thornburg please may I call you sir
Joe's papers have been on your desk a thousand days and
more
Why must US Justice be subsumed by Thatcher's plan
To extradite and persecute another Irishman
Six times faced extradition, six times Joe has won
Judge Sprizzo ruled in '84 leave this man alone
Between
Washington and London the game of chess goes on
Bishops, castles, kings and queens and Joe Doherty is the pawn
I stand here in the shadow of the Statue of Liberty
I thank you for listening to my songs and the welcome you
gave me
As I leave the shores of America may I suggest to you
Joe Doherty has done nothing that George Washington did
not so.
